The City of San Marcos will soon implement railroad quiet zones at 26 crossings.

City engineers are doing the final design work for the three-month project, which will include the installation of "No Train Horn" signs, the construction of additional medians at several crossings and the installation of additional warning circuitry at one crossing.

"I think it's something that the City Council had expressed interest in for a long time, and our engineers have been working on the plans for it for some time," said Melissa Millecam, communications director for the city.

Phase 1 of the project will implement quiet zones at the majority of the city's crossings. Phase Two will consist of work on the crossings at Post Road and Uhland Road.

The new medians will prevent drivers from crossing into the adjacent lane to go around a lowered gate.

"Once we go quiet, they [drivers] will have to exert extra caution," Millecam said. "They can't assume because they don't hear a train whistle that [there's no train]. If the gates are down, it means there's a train on the way."

Total cost for the project is estimated at about $514,000. The final crossings will be quieted after the completion of the Loop 82 railroad overpass, which should be by 2015.